State to play key role in Quincy court plan

Although the state hasn’t yet committed to any portion of the city’s plan to relocate Quincy District Court to a redeveloped Quincy Center MBTA station, it has targeted Quincy’s court for improvements.

By Patrick Ronan

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Patrick Ronan

Posted Sep. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 26, 2013 at 7:11 PM

By Patrick Ronan

Posted Sep. 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 26, 2013 at 7:11 PM

QUINCY

» Social News

Although the state hasn’t yet committed to any portion of the city’s plan to move Quincy District Court to a redeveloped transit station, it has targeted the court for improvements.

“It does need an expansion and an upgrade. It’s overcrowded,” Jennifer Donahue, a spokeswoman for the state court system, said.

Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch is seeking an engineer to carry out the first phase of a major overhaul of the Quincy Center T station, a plan that includes a new lobby, busway, parking garage, retail and office space, and a 250,000-square-foot courthouse.

Although the city is spearheading the T project, the courtroom element brings in other government agencies because the court building on Dennis Ryan Parkway is owned by Norfolk County and operated by the Massachusetts Court System.

For the court to relocate, Donahue said the plan needs approval from the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, an extension of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance.

Quincy District Court, a two-story building with five courtrooms, is one of five district courts in Norfolk County and serves Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Milton, Randolph, Holbrook and Cohasset.

“It’s a very large service area for a facility of that size,” Norfolk County Director Dan Matthews said.

Matthews said the state rents the courthouses from Norfolk County, reimbursing the county with about $3 million to cover annual operation costs. Donahue said the state paid Norfolk County $943,842 last year to lease Quincy District Court.

If a new Quincy court is built, Matthews said the county would still own the building on Dennis Ryan Parkway.

“Maybe the state wouldn’t move all the activity to the new courthouse or maybe the state would keep it for other business,” Matthews said. “Maybe the state turns it over to the county, and it’ll be up to the (Norfolk County) Commissioners to decide what to do with it after that.”

Page 2 of 2 - However, some courtroom buildings are owned by private developers or local municipalities, and leased out to the state. Christopher Walker, a spokesman for Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch, wouldn’t rule out those two leasing options as part of the T station plan.

“Financing is not something we have reached any level of specificity on,” he said.

The existing Quincy courthouse is 50,288 square feet in size and valued at $5.7 million, according to Quincy’s assessors department.

Patrick Ronan may be reached at pronan@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @PRonan_Ledger.